Category Archives: Books

I just finished the book Warrior Monk by Raymond Keating. The book centers around a man by the name of Stephen Grant, a former CIA agent turned Lutheran pastor. He is the pastor of St. Mary’s Lutheran Church in Long Island. The current pope, Augustine I, is promoting a radical initiative, “A Public Mission of Mere Christianity.” It is truly a radical initiative – so radical that it has numerous people, groups and organizations coming out of the woodworks to protest. There are talks of assassinations, there are murders, there are conspiracies. At the heart of all this is Pr. Stephen Grant. His church experiences a major tragedy and is reeling from what has happened. Pastor Grant is asked to assist with security for the pope. A Lutheran working for/with the pope? Yup, it happens! Is Grant a pastor and theologian or is he CIA agent for hire? Read it to find out for yourself!

Interesting Thoughts

I think it’s funny that a Lutheran church would be named St. Mary’s; I’m not 100% sure, but I’m going out on a limb here and saying that there is no St. Mary’s Lutheran Church in The LCMS.

From its inception on April 26, 1847, The Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod has emphasized the importance of linking together doctrine, practice, and mission. While this is an obvious, almost simplistic point, to confuse this issue will lead one to misunderstand the life of the Synod. Doctrine abstracted from life and unapplied in mission is merely an intellectual enterprise. Practice without a doctrinal and missional basis can degenerate into accommodation. Mission without doctrinal substance can lose the focus of the Gospel of Christ and lack practical impact. But bring doctrine, practice and mission together, and remarkable things can happen. Practicing substantive doctrine in mission can result in extraordinary unity and growth. (Emphasis added)

One book that I’ve been eager to pick up is “At Home in the House My Fathers.” The book is subtitled “Presidential Sermons, Essays, Letters, and Addresses from the Missouri Synod’s Great Era of Unity and Growth.” That’s a mouthful to say the least.

I’m currently reading the book, “Warrior Monk” by Ray Keating. It is about a man named Stephen Grant who is a former CIA analyst turned Lutheran pastor. Yeah, it’s a hard one to imagine, but it makes for a good read.

I was amused by a conversation between Grant and Father McDermott, the local Roman Catholic priest:

After taking a hearty swig of his draft from Holland, Ron asked, “Do you have any plans, Stephen, of moving from Wittenberg to Rome that I don’t know about?

Stephen was surprised. “What? Become a Roman Catholic? Are you kidding?” That came out wrong. He recovered, needling his friend. “How many times do I have to tell you, Ron, we Lutherans are the real Catholics? We’ve reformed the Church, still waiting for you guys to catch up. After all, it’s been nearly 500 years.”

When my son Bryce was born, some dear friends from church brought over a gift for him. Not wanting to leave Wesley out, they also brought him a gift too. They gave him a book titled, Ten Friends Together. The premise of the book is ten friends being picked up on a bus, one by one, on their way to a church mission fair. At the end of the each page, it ends with “# friends, going to the fair.” Wesley enjoys counting each number, which he can do, with the exception of the number 7. When you get to friend 10, it’s a write-in with your name. Wesley enjoys when you say his name. A night can’t go by without reading this book. It may have become his favorite book, next to Mickey Mouse, of course.

“Repentance is not a narrow gate through which a person has to squeeze. Repentance is something that God Himself must give to a person. Any kind of repentance that we produce ourselves is false and God is disgusted by it.”